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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. fine — all right
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. face — to point toward
  5. fine — high quality
  6. tube — the underground
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. shower — rain
  10. band — a ring
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — an illness
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. band — a music group
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. shower — to wash
  19. spell — letters
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — magic
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tube — a container

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com